Title: Insight
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Through S5
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, much as I wish.
Archive: Sure, but ask first. All my fics can also be found at the website I share with Sharon – see my profile for details.
Feedback: Always appreciated
Notes: Thanks to those who've sent feedback asking me to continue this. Sorry for the delay, but life has been throwing me for a loop lately and I haven't had much time to write. I'll try to get the next chapter out soon though.
4/?
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"Why couldn't I have lost my hearing instead of my sight?" Josh whispered into Donna's ear as they sat in his Cheese Day meeting.
"Josh, that's a terrible thing to say," Donna hissed.
"Yeah, I'm sorry, "he said sheepishly, "but do you blame me?"
"Hey, stop complaining or I'm gonna leave you to it; unlike you, I don't have to be here."
"Okay, I'll shut up." Returning his voice to it's normal level, he asked the two scientists, "So, uh, are you gonna get to the point anytime soon?" Donna elbowed him in the ribs and he added, "I mean, it's just that I have another meeting to go to and I wouldn't want to miss out on the really important details," he lied.
"Like we said, Mr Lyman, we think funding needs to be increased to let us investigate the possibility of life on other planets. To do that, we need more money to develop technology that will let us cope with long-term exploration activities."
"You make it sound like Star Trek," Josh chuckled.
"Well, in a way, it is," one of the scientists said.
"You want me to go to the President and ask him to provide funding so you guys can go play at being Captain Kirk?" asked Josh incredulously.
"Well, actually, I prefer Captain Picard," the scientist said without thinking.
"Listen, unless your research can come up with something useful, like one of those VISOR things that Geordi has in Star Trek: The Next Generation, I'm not gonna be able to help you."
"Josh," Donna said warningly, knowing Leo would be pissed if Josh offended the visitors.
"I'm sorry," Josh said seriously, "but there are other more pressing issues at the moment. I tell you what though, Donna here will type up some notes and add them to the list of things we can address if we have time; how's that?"
"Thank you for your time, Mr Lyman, we know it must be difficult for you at the moment, after your accident."
"I'm fine, but thanks. Donna?"
"Guys, I'll show you out," she said as she rose from her chair.
---
"Josh, I'm back, but I have to go to my Cheese Day meeting in a few minutes," Donna said as she returned from showing the scientists out of the building.
"Okay, Data."
"What did you just call me?" she asked with amusement.
"Data."
"Uh, okay. Why?"
"It was the Star Trek thing, it got me thinking."
"Never a good sign," she muttered.
"I heard that!"
"Right, your improved hearing. Anyway, the Star Trek thing?"
"Yeah, well I was thinking that I'm Geordi, partly because I'm blind right now, but also because I'm kinda like the Chief Engineer around here, you know, always fixing things."
"Uh, I thought Leo was the Chief, or did you get promoted while I was gone? And you only have to fix things because you break them in the first place," she grinned.
"Anyway," he continued, ignoring her interruption, "if I'm Geordi, it kinda makes you Data."
"I'm a robot?"
"He's an android, there's a difference."
"I thought you didn't have a Star Trek fetish?" she laughed.
"I don't have a fetish, I'm just a fan of the show."
"Sure," she appeased with a laugh. "So, I'm an android?"
"Well, I was thinking more in terms of you being my sidekick, like Data is Geordi's, but if the cap fits…"
"Thanks," she grumbled good-naturedly. "And I'm your sidekick?"
"Yeah, you and Data have quite a bit in common actually." Even though he couldn't see, Josh knew that Donna was looking at him with raised eyebrows, so he continued, "You're both full of usele—I mean useful information."
"And you're full of something else," she said dryly.
"Donna, can I swap assignments with you?" CJ asked suddenly from Josh's office doorway, interrupting their conversation.
"Why do you want to swap, CJ?" she queried. "Your meeting's not that goofy this year."
"Yeah, but… Wait until you see them, Donna; George Clooney has nothing on them!"
"You've seen them?"
"Yeah, Carol's with them in the Roosevelt Room now; you weren't around when they arrived."
"Oh, I'd better go then."
"Or, you could swap with me," CJ tried again.
"CJ, you heard Leo, no swapping this year."
"I think we can make an exception, Donna," Josh piped up.
"But –"
"In the interests of CJ's love life, it could use a boost."
"Hey!"
"You don't want the meeting now, CJ?" Josh grinned.
"The meeting is mine," Donna said firmly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some hot guys to talk to," she grinned as she started to leave the office. "You know," she called over her shoulder as she left, "if these guys are as hot as you say, CJ, all I need is an excuse to call Joe Quincy into the meeting and it'll be like a dream come true."
"She was smirking there, wasn't she?" Josh asked CJ.
"Oh, you bet."
"They're really that good-looking?"
"There aren't words to describe them, Josh, but Adonis springs to mind."
"Great," Josh muttered to himself.
---
"Josh, where's Donna's Cheese Day meeting?"
"Who's that?"
"Oh, sorry, it's Joe Quincy."
"Why do you want to know where Donna's meeting is?"
"I want to sit in on it. I wanted to be there from the start, but I had a non-Cheese Day meeting to attend and it only just finished.
"You want to sit in on it? Did CJ put you up to this?" Josh asked warily.
"CJ? No. Why?"
"Nothing. Why do you want to sit in on a Cheese Day meeting? You do know they're a waste of time?"
"It's a topic that interests me," Joe smiled.
"Building eco-friendly bubble-house type things in our National Parks interests you?" Josh asked in a tone that made it clear he thought Joe was crazy.
"What? No. I meant discussing the possibility of setting up summer camps for underprivileged kids to learn hockey, that would be run by ex-All Stars. There's two ex All Stars in the meeting right now, that's why I wanna be there."
"Donna's meeting is about that?"
"Yeah," Joe said with puzzlement. "Why, what did she tell you?"
"She told me it was about building bubbles! I'm gonna kill her."
"It's not like you could have swapped with her, Josh, I heard Leo banned that."
"I still could have been at the meeting," he grumbled.
"You wanna come with me?" Joe offered.
"You're not going."
"Excuse me?"
"You're not going to Donna's meeting."
"Why not?"
"If you interrupt, it'll take longer and she's needed back here, she has other work to do," Josh lied, not wanting to admit he didn't want Joe within ten feet of Donna.
"I won't interrupt, I just want to sit in."
"No, but you can take me to the Roosevelt Room, I need to talk to Donna."
"Well, if I'm going there anyway, surely I can –"
"No," Josh interrupted, standing up and holding his arm out.
"What do I do?" Joe asked nervously, not quite sure how Josh wanted to be guided.
"Just let me grab onto your arm and then walk normally, but don't let me walk too close to anything or I might bump into it."
"Okay."
---
"Can you excuse me for a minute?" Donna said to her visitors as she heard a knock on the Roosevelt Room door and saw Josh standing outside. "Hi," she said as she stepped outside, closing the door behind her again. "What's up?"
"You lied to me," Josh accused, though there was no anger in his voice.
"What? Oh, hey, Joe," she smiled as she noticed the lawyer standing next to Josh. "What do you mean I lied to you?" she continued, turning her attention back to Josh.
"You told me your meeting was about environmental stuff, but it's not."
"Oh, that."
"Yeah, that. Care to explain?"
"No, not really," Donna grinned.
"Why didn't you tell me that you were meeting with two hockey players?"
"Because you'd have wanted to swap and that would be breaking the rules. If I'd told you, you'd have just kept complaining."
"Like you follow rules anyway," Josh scoffed. "No parking means no parking, remember?"
"Josh, does this really matter? I'm sorry I lied, but it wouldn't have made a difference, you couldn't take the meeting anyway."
"Why did you get assigned this one? Why not me or Toby, or even Will?"
"Margaret felt it could be perceived as sexist to automatically assign a meeting about sports funding to a male, so she decided to give it to a female. CJ knows nothing about sports, so she was out and the same goes for Carol, Bonnie and Ginger. Actually, I think if Margaret had known how hot the guys were, she'd have taken this one herself, but she didn't, so I got it."
"You don't know anything about sports," Josh pointed out in his 'know all' voice.
"I don't, huh? You don't remember me using football analogies to get my points across?"
"Yeah, but still… this is hockey," Josh shrugged. "Anyway, I'm gonna join you in the meeting now," he continued, pushing his hand out and trying to find the door handle.
"No, you're not," Donna said firmly.
"Donna, --"
"Josh, no." She stopped and looked at their companion. "Joe, could you do me a favor and tell my visitors that I'll be a couple of minutes?"
"Sure," agreed Joe eagerly, immediately brushing past Josh and entering the Roosevelt Room.
"Josh, please just let me take this meeting on my own," said Donna calmly, but with a pleading tone evident in her voice.
"I won't take over, Donna, I just wanna be there."
"You won't mean to take over, but it'll happen anyway. Please, Josh."
"Why is it so important? It's Crackpot Day, none of this is serious."
"This one is though, Josh, it has a lot of merit and could actually go somewhere. Please, just trust me to handle this on my own."
"I trust you, Donna," he said seriously, but then added in a whiny voice, "I just wanna meet them, Joe said they're ex All Stars."
"Yeah, they are," she smiled. "I tell you what, I'll bring them by your office before they leave," she offered as a compromise.
"Okay," he agreed with a sigh, "but do me a favor?"
"Depends what it is," she grinned.
"Kick Joe out. If I find out you let him stay for the meeting, you're fired," he warned with a smile.
"I'm impervious, remember?" she laughed. "But, don't worry, I'll kick him out as soon as I go back in there."
"Good. Actually, you'll need to anyway."
"Why?"
"Because I… I need him to take me back to my office," he admitted.
"I can take you," she said softly.
"No, no you go take your meeting, Donna, I'll manage."
"Okay, I'll see you in a little while."
"Yeah."
---
"I wanna go to a bar," Josh announced as he wandered into CJ's office.
"What?" CJ laughed.
"I wanna go to a bar," he repeated. "By the way, aren't you impressed that I managed to find my way here?"
"Not really, all you had to do was walk in a straight line from your office, up the hall and into mine."
"Hey, you try walking in a straight line when you can't see," he said in a tone that showed he was proud of himself even if CJ wasn't.
"Why do you want to go to a bar?"
"I want to do something normal."
Josh took a seat on the couch just inside CJ's door and kicked his feet up onto it.
"Comfortable?" CJ smiled.
"Not really, but it'll do. I wish I had space in my office for a couch," he mused.
"If you did, you'd spend even less time at home than you do now."
"Yeah," he agreed with a sigh. "Anyway, you gonna come to the bar?"
"Going to a bar is doing something normal?"
"Yeah. I know it sounds dumb, but I just feel like the last few days, despite everyone's best intentions, I've been treated differently. I mean, we always go for a drink after Crackpot Day, but we didn't yesterday."
"That's because you and Toby were pissed because Donna got the hockey assignment," CJ grinned.
"No, well, yeah we were pissed, and Margaret is gonna pay for that, as will Donna, but that's not why we didn't go out."
"No, the reason we didn't go out is because you were exhausted," CJ admitted.
"Yeah, and that makes me feel like I'm being treated differently."
CJ decided to put a stop to the conversation, knowing that Josh wouldn't really open up about his feelings, so there wasn't much point in continuing.
"Okay, well, I'm done for the night, so let's go," she said, standing up and shutting down her laptop.
"Good, I'll get Donna to round up the others."
"Toby and Will are still around?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, I'll catch up with you in a minute."
---
"Why did you have to invite Joe Quincy?" Josh quietly grumbled to Donna as she led him into the bar.
"Because, he was still around and he's a nice guy."
"He's a Republican."
"Yes, he is, so no shop talk tonight, okay? I don't want you arguing politics with him."
"Why not? It's supposed to be a normal night."
"Right, so poke fun at CJ's love life, like you normally do, or find out more about Will, we still don't know him that well. It'll be a good opportunity to get to know Joe properly as well, since we have to work with him."
"I have to work with him, yes, but I don't have to socialize with him," Josh complained.
"Josh, if you don't quit whining I'm gonna lead you to a table in the corner and leave you there by yourself," Donna warned.
"Why's it so important to you that I get on with Joe Quincy?"
"It's not, I just think he's a nice guy."
"Yeah, you would," muttered Josh, struggling to cling on to Donna's arm as she quickened her pace.
"You know, you're handling the blindness a lot better than I would in your place," admitted CJ as the night wore on. They'd spent about an hour just chatting generally, with Josh doing as Donna had suggested and poking fun at CJ's love life. She had taken it in the fun way it was intended and had managed to turn the tables on the guys slightly by asking Will and Joe about their love lives. Once that topic was exhausted, things had gone quiet and all eyes had turned to Josh as he cursed when he nearly toppled his glass again; that was when CJ made her comment.
"It's not like I have a choice," shrugged Josh, "you just gotta get on with it."
"Yeah, but it must be having some sort of impact, it must change things," pressed CJ.
"Not as much as you'd think. I have to rely on people a bit more, both in the office and at home, like Donna having to sort out my clothes for the first couple of days, until I got a chance to talk to my cleaning lady," he explained, "but there hasn't been a huge change."
"Even the laundry thing can be sorted out so that Josh can do it himself again," interjected Donna.
"It can?" queried Josh, voicing everyone else's thoughts.
"Yes, I've been doing some research –"
"Why am I not surprised?" smiled Josh.
"There are tips and tricks on websites and the leaflet you got from the hospital is pretty helpful too. It says you can sew labels on things, with maybe one raised bump to signify black socks and two bumps for white, that kind of thing."
"Good idea," mused Will.
"Do any of those tips tell me how I can shave when I can't see what I'm doing?"
"No, Josh, I'm afraid I haven't found that one yet, though I have been looking; your stubble doesn't exactly have the designer look anymore," laughed Donna.
"It doesn't have the designer feel either," he said. "I scrubbed my hand over my face today when I was thinking about something and nearly cut myself."
The others couldn't help the chuckles that escaped their lips and Toby cast a glance at Josh.
"Well, I guess that's what happens when you're not able to grow a real beard," said Toby dryly.
"What does that mean?"
"Nothing, Josh," Donna said quickly, glaring at Toby.
"No, what do you mean, Toby? What's wrong with my beard?"
"It's not a beard, that's what's wrong with it."
"Toby," warned Donna. "Josh, there's nothing wrong with it, it just hasn't had a chance to grow into a proper beard yet, it's only been a few days, but it's past the stubble stage, as you already discovered."
"You're telling me I look a mess?"
"No, no, of course not."
"Donna."
"Would I let you walk around looking a mess?" Upon seeing Josh's eyebrows raise above the level of his sunglasses, she added, "Well, anymore than you normally do, I mean."
"I guess this teaches me not to let the battery on my electric razor run down, huh," he chuckled to himself. "Donna, do me a favor and plug it in for me when we get back home?"
"Sure," she smiled, patting his hand in agreement.
CJ noticed the smile forming on Joe Quincy's lips as he heard Josh inadvertently refer to his home as Donna's and she sent him a silencing look. In return, Joe shrugged and smiled some more, which CJ returned as she herself thought about Josh's words. It had only been a few days, but already Josh and Donna were falling into a comfortable routine.
"Josh, if you have any problems, just bring a razor in and I'll shave you," offered Will suddenly.
"Uh, thanks, but you might wanna watch how you phrase that," grinned Josh, causing Donna to roll her eyes and slap his arm.
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TBC… Next up, the full impact of the situation finally hits Josh.